Sam Miller, a spokesman for the Perkins campaign, said the republican voter turnout in Martin County was too high to beat.

When Perkins conceded, the ballots that still needed to be counted in Palm Beach or St. Lucie County would not make up for the losses in Martin County.

Perkins thanked his supporters for their hard work during the campaign, staying positive throughout the night following the loss.

Dozens of Perkins supporters joined him and his family at Big Apple Pizza Tuesday in Fort Pierce.

“You know, the outcome clearly isn’t what I expected it to be. I’m a little surprised, but I want to congratulate Brian Mast for his victory tonight. I wish him well serving this district and Congress and accomplishing the things that are important to everybody that we both ran on,” Perkins said in a concession speech.

Perkins says it’s too soon to know whether he would ever consider another run for office in the future.

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